Tiger Woods tests out his back during a practice round in advance of the PGA Championship. / Andy Lyons, Getty Images

by Christine Brennan, USA TODAY Sports

by Christine Brennan, USA TODAY Sports

LOUISVILLE â?? Just three days after all looked lost, Tiger Woods' back is back, and he with it.

The back spasms that Tiger said forced him to quit mid-round Sunday afternoon are all gone now, he is happy to report, and he arrived at the PGA Championship in the nick of time Wednesday, back to his old self and ready for his 8:35 a.m. ET tee time Thursday.

Because developments are happening pretty quickly with the sports world's most famous back, we turn to Tiger for the latest:

"When I landed on the bunker (Sunday), my sacrum went out," he said after playing nine practice holes Wednesday afternoon. "So pinched the nerve and hence the spasm. My physio put it back in and we've just been treating it."

There, you're all caught up now. Rather weird, isn't it? Backs can be that way, I guess.

Whatever the case, this is great news for the PGA Championship. Tiger is playing in the final men's major of the year, and not only will his fans be cheering for him, they'll be cheering for him not to jump into any more bunkers, and they'll also be cheering for his sacrum to stay right where it belongs.

A show of hands, please, from those who can't wait to see what happens to him next.

Tiger, who once looked like the most put-together man on earth, has become so darn unpredictable over the past few years. Just when we might have thought he was finished for the year, word came around lunchtime Wednesday that he would be arriving at Valhalla Golf Club and would be playing a practice round at 2 p.m.

The mystery of Tiger -- would he play or would he withdraw? â?? served as a fitting prelude to the last major championship of a year that has been completely overshadowed by Tiger's bad back.

Immediately, the Golf Channel unveiled live shots from Tiger's empty parking space. The parking space cam! Reporters staked out the players' parking lot, the driving range and the first tee. Crowds grew as word spread that Tiger was coming. It was only a day of practice, but for a sport that sometimes appears to be on life support without him, any positive sign from Tiger comes as a great relief to many.

Drama? You bet. In some ways, the action and attention were undeniably silly. All this fuss for a practice round? Sure, why not? Then again, my ridiculousness threshold is rather high having covered Tonya Harding's career from start to finish.

Woods uneventfully, even blithely, hit a few dozen shots at the driving range, then went out to the course, where he drove his first tee shot down the middle of the fairway.

While he still appeared to have far from a perfect gait little more than four months after back surgery, he looked spry, and seemed thrilled to be back -- even though he barely was gone.

He looked like the same old Tiger from a week ago, the one who was going along just fine until he wasn't anymore. Back pain can be both unpredictable and debilitating, especially for a golfer with his fury and power. Is Tiger's back a ticking time bomb, just waiting to explode on him again?

"It was a different pain than what I had been experiencing, so I knew it wasn't the site of the surgery," he explained. "It was different and obviously it was just the sacrum."

As Woods walked from the first green down a steep embankment to a narrow foot bridge crossing a creek to the second tee, some fans cheered him on, while a spectator yelled, "Don't fall in!"